Upcoming events

New Vatican Prefect for Religious Emphasizes Rebuilding Trust

The new Vatican prefect for
consecrated life says his key job is “rebuilding a relationship of trust” with
religious orders -- a situation he seems to blame on his predecessor.

“We
have had to confront many difficulties. There was quite a lot of distrust on
the part of the religious, due to some positions taken previously. Now, the
focal point of the work is precisely that of rebuilding a relationship of
trust,” said Archbishop Joao Braz de Aviz in the latest edition of the Italian
Catholic magazine 30 Giorni.

The
64-year-old Brazilian took over the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated
Life and Societies of Apostolic Life in January after the retirement of
Cardinal Franc Rode. During his time in office, the Slovenian cleric frequently
referred to a “crisis” in religious life that he traced back to the close of
the Second Vatican Council in 1965.

Notably,
in 2008, Cardinal Rode undertook an apostolic visitation of women religious in
the United States. Archbishop Braz also seemed skeptical of the initial
approach taken by that investigation.

“There
was mistrust and opposition. We’ve spoken with them, their representatives have
also come here to Rome,” he said.

“We’ve
started to listen again. It's not to say that problems don't exist. But, we
have to confront them in another way. Without preemptive condemnations.
Listening to reasons.”

Archbishop
Braz grew up in a poor family in the town of Mafra in southern Brazil. He was
ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Apucarana in 1974. He admits to
having been influenced by “Liberation Theology” in those early days.

“We
were idealists, we wanted give our life to something big. The option for the
poor gave us great hope, especially for those of us coming from poor
families.”

That
legacy leaves him with mixed emotions, given that many of the Catholic groups
who promoted the idea – often described as a hybrid of Marxism and Christianity
- now operate as secular non-governmental organizations.

“They
said they wanted to change the Church, but their faith failed and what was left
was sociology. This can only arouse sadness,” he told 30 Giorni.

“Yet
I remain convinced that in this period something great happened for the whole
Church. A realization that human sin creates structures of sin. Also, that the
preference for the poor is God’s choice, as seen in the Gospel.”

Towards
the end of his interview Archbishop Braz was equally candid about his
skepticism over the Legion of Christ. The order’s future is currently being
reviewed by the Vatican following the revelation that their late founder, Fr.
Marcial Maciel, had sexually abused seminarians over many years and
fathered children with different women.

“As
far as the Legionaries go, I was never convinced by the lack of trust in
personal freedom that I saw in their structures,” said Archbishop Braz.

“It
was an authoritarianism that sought to dominate everything with discipline. I
took the seminarians of Brasilia out of their seminaries, because I saw that
things couldn’t go on that way.”